Leafs to begin contract talks with pending UFA in the next couple of weeks
Per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and TSN, the Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to enter into contract extension discussions with Ilya Mikheyev and agent Dan Milstein in the coming weeks. This news coming after Milstein revealed earlier this week that the Leafs organization has been very good to Mikheyev during his time in Toronto.
Mikheyev originally came over to North America back in 2019 after spending the previous four seasons with Omsk Avangard of the Kontinental Hockey League. Mikheyev showed steady growth during his time in the KHL, but had aspirations of playing in the best league in the world.
Enter the Toronto Maple Leafs, who brought Mikheyev over to establish himself in North America. In his first year as an NHLer, Mikheyev scored 8 goals and 23 points in 39 games, but had his season cut short by a devastating and gruesome injury - a wrist laceration suffered in a game against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ in December of 2019. After suffering the injury, Mikheyev was rushed to hospital, and Leafs GM Kyle Dubas left the arena and stayed by Mikheyev's side until they were able to travel back to Toronto.
His follow-up campaign was somewhat disappointing, amassing just 17 points in 54 games in 2020-21 and coming up empty handed in the playoffs across 7 games against the Montreal Canadiens. This was due in part to Mikheyev still working his way back to full health from his gruesome injury the year prior.
That summer, Mikheyev would request a trade, but rather than blindly granting his request, GM Kyle Dubas wanted to figure out if there was a solution that the two sides could reach to keep Mikheyev in Toronto. Ultimately, Mikheyev felt as though there was not a lot of opportunity for him to play in all situations and to increase his ice time. Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe worked together with Mikheyev to find creative ways to ramp up his ice time, give him looks in all situations and ensure that he felt like a valued member of the organization.
Their lack of ego, willingness to show flexibility and listen to the problems and work with the player to find a solution that worked for all sides seems to have paid off, as Mikheyev not only rescinded his trade request, but also appears amenable to the idea of returning next season.
After posting a career high 32 points in 53 gamaes this season, including a career-high 21 goals, Mikheyev is believed to be seeking an AAV in the neighborhood of $3.5M on the open market. I'd imagine that, as is often the case, if he wishes to remain in Toronto, he may agree to take slightly less.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 9 | 257 ANSWERS Leafs to begin contract talks with pending UFA in the next couple of weeks Will Mikheyev be a Leaf when the 2022-23 season begins? | ||
| Yes | 163 | 63.4 % |
| No | 94 | 36.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
